


warm cinnamon and stolen coats

by waterpots



Category: PRISTIN (Band)
Genre: F/F, Medieval AU, eventually i'll expand this to a fantasy au and a full story i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 07:45:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12979359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterpots/pseuds/waterpots
Summary: In which Kyungwon is a thief, Minkyung is a partner in crime, Yebin and Eunwoo are ineffective soldiers, and Kyla just wants an apple pie for Christmas.





	warm cinnamon and stolen coats

**Author's Note:**

> for the 2017 pristin fic exchange!!
> 
> the prompt was yuha/roa “I can’t believe you talked me into this…” I hope you like this! I also used the “yaebin” spelling instead of “yebin.” Hope that’s okay. This is sort of a fantasy AU but it contains no real elements, so it reads more like a medieval times AU. I kind of want to write something with a more plotty sort of plot someday, so maybe you will get a very long and drawn out fic exchange fic gift. Or maybe not. Who is to say haha. The 2kyung is also more friendship than relationship, but if I ever get around to drawing it out, things will probably change with that. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” The words are dull and rather lifeless, because Minkyung absolutely can believe that she was talked into this, especially when Kyungwon was the one doing the talking. It was more of a formality, because she’d said it the first time when she truly couldn’t believe it, and she now needed Kyungwon to know that, despite the fact she saw it coming, it didn’t make it any less disappointing.

“It’s just a few things, and it’s not like she’ll even miss them.”

“It’s the middle of December, snowing, and two in the morning.” Minkyung pulled the scratchy coat she was wearing closer around herself, trying desperately to not seem like she was shivering, lest Kyungwon make a comment on it.

“How are you supposed to run in that?”

Minkyung glared. “It’s the only coat I own for this weather and you know that. Plus, if you guarantee I’m running towards warmth, I’ll run faster than you.”

Kyungwon shrugged. “I was expecting you to be lookout anyway, so I guess it’s not a huge deal.”

They were approaching their destination by now, and Kyungwon ceased all conversation by lightly touching Minkyung’s arm. They were on high alert. This season was high time for theft, and the town guard doubled their efforts to try and stop as many offenders as they could. It was a time for someone like Kyungwon to lay low, considering she knew the guards’ habits, but it was also a time of greater activity for her. Despite their low means, Kyungwon refused to spend a single holiday season without getting her whole “family” gifts. Minkyung had to, at the very least, appreciate that.

So Minkyung assumed their reason for breaking into the local bakery in the wealthy part of their village had something to do with a present for somebody. Probably some nice dessert for the old woman who would give Kyungwon her extra bread when they were little.

“Stay sharp, put this on,” Kyungwon whispered, pushing something into Minkyung’s hand.

“You’re seriously still making us wear these stupid masks?” Minkyung asked, frowning at the mask but putting it on her face nonetheless. The last thing she needed was Kyungwon pouting over it.

“The best use of an old copper pan Yoobin’s ever created,” Kyungwon said, donning hers.

* * *

Minkyung never bothered asking where Kyungwon had learned how to pick locks. These things never have a fun or interesting story, usually it’s just Kyungwon being bored one day (and also being Kyungwon about everything) and deciding to learn how to pick locks.

Truth be told, she was kind of made for this lifestyle. That’s why she was the one leading the charge.

Kyungwon made quick work of the lock and they quickly slipped into the house, closing the door behind them. They didn’t have to worry about getting caught while they were in the storefront; the owner lived in a house nearby, rather than just upstairs. So long as they could work in the dark, nobody would come in to see what was going on. It was leaving that they had to watch out for.

“What are you stealing from a bakery anyway?” Minkyung asked in a hushed voice.

“Stuff,” Kyungwon whispered, reaching into her bag and pulling out...cups and jars? She was quietly measuring things out different ingredients, and Minkyung felt like laughing.

“Are you doing alchemy now or something? Or stealing just enough so she goes bankrupt, but not so much that she notices?”

Kyungwon shushed her, moving over to another part of the cabinets of spices and ingredients kept there. “It’s for a pie.”

“There are pies in the front window.”

“Not just any pie.”

Minkyung shook her head, but moved over to the spice shelf Kyungwon wasn’t at. “What else do you need?”

“Nutmeg.”

Minkyung’s eyes scanned the shelves until she found the ingredient Kyungwon was looking for, bringing it over to her. Kyungwon measured out the exact amount she seemed to need, handing the jar back to Minkyung to return to its home.

“Ready?”

“One last thing,” Kyungwon said, pulling a small pouch out of her bag and placing it on the front table of the bakery. Minkyung raised an eyebrow, but thought better of asking. She could do that once they’d gotten back home. “Side windows are clear,” Kyungwon whispered.

Minkyung could see nobody out of the front of the shop, and quietly pushed the door open, peeking her head outside. “All clear,” she whispered, and the two took a few steps outside, quietly shutting the door.

They made it a block down the street before the sound of one of the guards caught their attention.

“Shit,” Kyungwon hissed, grabbing Minkyung and pulling her into an alley.

“Did you hear something?” It was one of the city patrol guards, of course, with a partner not far behind.

“Are you sure you’re not just imagining noises?” The other replied.

The alley was a dead end, with no way out except where they had entered. The light radiating off the guards’ lanterns was slowly growing brighter, signalling their approach. Minkyung was holding her breath, which was silly, considering the loud boots of the guards blocked out noises as quiet as these. It was a force of habit; they hadn’t had a close call like this in a long time.

At some point since they’d slid into the alley, Kyungwon’s bag of stolen goods had ended up in Minkyung’s hand. She didn’t question it.

“Don’t you think putting us on night guard duty is a little ridiculous. It was just one turkey.”

“I mean, yes, but it was three turkeys and you know that.” The boots stopped just before the alleyway. The two pushed against a wall, side by side and near the back, hoping desperately that the guards wouldn’t be that thorough in their watch.

The two guards stepped into their line of vision, but the lanterns thankfully didn’t reach far enough to see them. Minkyung didn’t move, they weren’t in the clear yet, but she did mentally let out a breath of air, relaxing slightly.

“It’s Christmas Eve,” one of the guards mumbled. They seemed to have decided to stop here and chat in the cold December snow, of course. “I should be back at the barracks eating a hot bowl of soup in front of a fire.”

“Maybe Nayoung would even read Christmas stories to you, and you could take a nap on her lap.” They just had to wait, the guards could only stay there for so long before they had to move, although their position was starting to bug Minkyung.

“Listen, that probably wouldn’t be so bad.”

Minkyung’s discomfort was apparently shared by her companion, because Kyungwon took their silence as the perfect opportunity to readjust herself. Probably to alleviate a bit of the cold somehow.

“Was that something?” One guard asked the other, fear evident in her voice.

“A ghost,” the other said jokingly, but a quiver in her voice gave away her own fear. They clearly weren’t expecting to see any good-for-nothing thieves or hooligans on their night watch.

“Is someone down there?” The guard asked, the both of them turning to the alley.

Kyungwon cursed under her breath. “Listen,” she hissed to Minkyung. “If we rush them then we can distract them long enough. I want you to take the bag and get to Yewon’s house.”

“There’s definitely voices,” one of the guards said, taking a step down the alley.

“Don’t stop for any reason just get there. Yewon can explain what she’s doing. You just need to get it where it belongs.”

“Who is this for?” Minkyung whispered back.

“Guess.”

Ah. Of course. Minkyung should have known.

Kyungwon gave no warning, to Minkyung or anyone, and rushed at the guard, who was slowly advancing. It was a solid headbutt, straight to the guard’s stomach, and the two went flying to the ground, Kyungwon falling over the guard and landing on her stomach.

Minkyung took the opportunity to begin rushing, first out the alley and then down the street.

“Yaebin, go after the other one, I’ve got this one!” She heard one of the guards shout. It occurred to her that ‘this one’ was Kyungwon. She hadn’t gotten very far, and despite Kyungwon’s instructions, she felt herself slowing down.

She had an idea, a vague plan she’d just haphazardly thrown together, but she had little other option. She just hoped this idea wasn’t a massive failure. The guard, Yaebin, was approaching behind her. Minkyung turned around, and Yaebin seemed to pause for less than a second, clearly uncertain as to what Minkyung’s intention was. They were close, close enough that Yaebin could probably take her down in an instant, but Minkyung took the initiative, and smashed her head against Yaebin’s helmet, using her copper mask to hopefully do some damage.

“Shit!”

It was a giant mistake. It occurred to Minkyung immediately after doing it that Yaebin’s helmet was supposed to withstand war, and that her mask was just a repurposed, thin copper pan. But Yaebin’s helmet also had no padding, and she went down while Minkyung gripped her head with one hand, the other tightly holding onto Kyungwon’s bag.

“Eunwoo!” Yaebin shouted from her fetal position on the ground. “I’m down! She’s given me a severe brain injury!”

“Shut up and do something!” Eunwoo yelled back. She had gotten Kyungwon by taking advantage of Kyungwon’s position after she’d run into her, pinning her down while she was still on her back.

“O Great Hubris! Pretty soon I’ll be one of those people who calls strangers Margaret and thinks they're my lost love!”

Minkyung could deal with Eunwoo easily, hitting her using her shoulder and pushing her off of Kyungwon. She grabbed Kyungwon by her wrist and pulled her up, and the two began running again.

“Eunwoo!” They could hear Yaebin shout. “Don’t leave me here to just die! Nayoung’s going to kill us regardless the least you could do is love your friend!”

Kyungwon was a good thief, but Minkyung did have a reason she kept getting dragged along Kyungwon’s adventures (besides Kyungwon enjoying the company). They ducked into another alley, this one leading to a different part of the city, and before long they’d taken so many turns that Minkyung was sure they’d lost them. She knew the city layout perfectly (her mother once remarked that she had the memory to be a scholar, but Minkyung was still young then and didn’t understand why she couldn’t be one).

“How far are we from Yewon?” Kyungwon asked, looking around. She was lost, but she still liked to pretend she had some idea where they were. At least vaguely.

“Few minutes.” They continued the walk in silence. They hadn’t had a close call in a long time, and Minkyung couldn’t recall a time in the last five years that a guard had actually seen them, much less (rather unintentionally) cornered them in an alley.

They got to Yewon’s house in a few minutes, like Minkyung had said, and Kyungwon stopped her before they walked in the door. Minkyung wanted to protest, considering she could see smoke rising out of Yewon’s chimney (and they’d been outside for far longer than she’d anticipated), but the serious look in Kyungwon’s eyes made her complaints die in her throat.

“I told you to just go no matter what. You weren’t supposed to come back for me,” Kyungwon said.

Minkyung frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?” Kyungwon opened her mouth to respond, but Minkyung interrupted her. “Don’t be stupid and selfless. I’m not just going to let you get arrested and thrown in prison for the rest of your life because you had a really strong ground cinnamon craving.”

Kyungwon gave her a small smile, and grabbed the handle to Yewon’s front door, pulling it open.

Yewon lived in a small house, but it was nice. Certainly not as nice as the houses on the upper side of the city, but it reflected a certain amount of care that Yewon put into it (and it was certainly much nicer than the hovel Minkyung liked to call a home). They pestered her relentlessly, years ago, until Yewon had finally admitted that the reason her house looked nice was because of a stipend her father got for being an archer in the military. But his military duties meant he wasn’t home much at all, and it meant that Minkyung and Kyungwon would come over often to keep her company.

“Yewon,” Minkyung greeted, and Yewon responded with a cheery smile. The two took seats at the wooden table Yewon was already sitting at.

“I got the goods,” Kyungwon said, placing her bag on the table.

Yewon frowned. “I told you I wouldn’t do this anymore if you’re stealing the ingredients.”

“This is different, it’s not for me,” Kyungwon pleaded. “Plus, it wasn’t really stealing, it was more like an unconsenting purchase.”

“The pouch on the table…” Minkyung said, trailing off.

“Yeah, I paid for everything we took. I tried to get her to sell the ingredients to me, but she refused. It’s a fair trade.”

“But you stole the money you gave her,” Yewon remarked, still not convinced.

“I didn’t.”

“Then where did you get it?”

Kyungwon looked off to the side, away from both Yewon and Minkyung, frowning. “Does it really matter that much, as long as it’s not stealing?”

“Kind of? If you didn’t steal it you can tell me where you got it from,” Yewon said. She turned to Minkyung. “She didn’t make you lend her money, did she?”

“I don’t have money to lend her,” Minkyung replied, shrugging.

“Please,” Kyungwon tried pleading again. “It’s all she wants for Christmas and I can’t bake for shit. Just trust me this once. I didn’t steal the money. It’s legally my tender to use as I would like.”

Yewon sighed, her face scrunched up. Kyungwon had won, that much Minkyung knew, but Yewon still had to slowly come to that realization herself. Minkyung could watch the whole ordeal herself, in the way Yewon’s face contorted in an annoyed way, then relaxed to a defeated position.

“Fine. I’ll make the pie tomorrow, so she can have it hot on Christmas Day.” Kyungwon clenched her fist as a victory gesture, grinning at Yewon.

“You’re my hero, you know that?”

“Ouch,” Minkyung grumbled, and Kyungwon stuck her tongue out at her. A whole twenty year old adult, huh?

“Obviously. Now come on, I lit the fire for the both of you and I’m heating some soup up, I’m sure you’re both freezing to death. Please warm up. Kyungwon you’ve been shivering since you entered.”

Kyungwon grinned at Yewon, then at Minkyung, before moving to get as close to Yewon’s fireplace as she could. Minkyung smiled fondly at the childish way Kyungwon huddled herself in a blanket in front of the fireplace.

“Is your forehead okay?” Yewon asked, moving closer to Minkyung. “It doesn’t look good.”

“I banged it against something,” Minkyung said, hand moving to touch it. She winced. The thing hurt like hell.”

“That’s probably going to bruise,” Yewon replied. “You should put some snow on it after you’ve warmed up.”

Minkyung hummed, and they sat in silence for a moment until Kyungwon called Minkyung over to the fire.

* * *

Christmas Day was spent at Yewon’s house. Her father used to get the holidays off, but with the change in power recently the country has been on edge. Fear of outside nations invading is constant, and the soldiers aren’t given even a single day off. Back then it used to be Yewon, her father, Minkyung, her mother (before she’d passed away), Kyungwon, and Kyla, who more or less functioned as Kyungwon’s sister in everyone’s eyes.

It was just four of them now, but they still made the best of it, eating together and exchanging whatever small presents they were able to make or buy (or steal).

Kyla gets them all mittens. She didn’t make them, but the old women in the neighborhood gifted them to Kyla in exchange for her carrying their purchases home from the marketplace. The neighborhood they live in is a good distances off, and the old ladies are always appreciative (they sometimes give her food, but Kyla isn’t going to save that for a Christmas present. She shares that as soon as she gets it).

Everyone insists that Yewon’s present is the food she cooks (and the warm house she provides. Nobody else has a fireplace for warmth), but she still insists on finding little trinkets to get them. They’re usually useless little tin or wooden toys (and they’re all far too old for toys), but they cherish them nonetheless.

Minkyung and Kyungwon usually scavenge and steal what they can (and sometimes they don’t do too well at that, as evidenced by the year Kyungwon tried to give her own worn-out shoes to Kyla as a present). Minkyung had taken this year to offer favors, since she had nothing else to give them: helping Yewon chop wood for her home, taking Kyla down at the lake in the spring to go fishing, and a promise to Kyungwon that she would cook her beef sometimes, whenever they actually had beef. Kyungwon was always a sucker for meat.

Kyungwon’s present to Kyla was the pie. Kyungwon smiled fondly at the expression on Kyla’s face when Yewon brought it out, and leaned over Minkyung to whisper, “all she wanted for the holiday was a homemade apple pie. I don’t know why she wanted it for the life of me. I don’t think she’s ever had one before.”

“She’s happy, though.”

“Yeah,” Kyungwon replied. “She is.”

* * *

In the afternoon, Yewon and Kyla ventured outside. It was snowy out, and no matter how much Yewon liked to brag about how mature she was at eighteen, she was still a kid at heart. There were snowmen to build, and Kyla was more than happy to help out.

Minkyung picked up the dirty plates that were scattered across the table, and Kyungwon lay down, vegging out in front of the fire.

“Good year,” Minkyung commented simply. Kyungwon hummed. “Kyla seemed floored.”

“Best presents I got people. I gave Yewon hers early and-” Kyungwon sat up suddenly. “Ah, I got you something. Yewon let me stash it in her room.” She got up and walked into Yewon’s room, just adjacent to the room they were in.

Minkyung furrowed her eyebrows. What the hell could Kyungwon have gotten her that needed to be hidden in Yewon’s room.

“Here we go,” Kyungwon said, returning with something fabric in her hands. “You’re always complaining about yours, plus your old one is white and super attention drawing, so I got you a new one.”

“You got me a coat?”

“Yeah,” Kyungwon said, scratching the back of her head. “It’s supposed to be really good with keeping you warm. I don’t remember the specific reasons the salesperson gave.”

“Kyungwon, this has to be so expensive. If you stole this they’ll definitely notice.”

“It’s okay. I,” Kyungwon paused. “I bought it legally.”

“You what?”

“I got a job working at the tavern, the one that Yoobin and I always go to.” Kyungwon took the look on Minkyung’s face as a reason to keep explaining. “The owner likes me because I drive the really rowdy drunk people away.”

“Does he know you do that by talking about some crazy story involving a fire sword and a water sword and a tree of life and something about a ‘chosen one’?”

“He said he doesn’t care how.”

“But then the money you left at the bakery,” Minkyung said, trailing off at the end.

“I asked her to sell me the ingredients, but she wouldn’t. So I just kind of illegally bought them. She won’t miss them, I’m sure.”

“Are you going straight or something?” Minkyung asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Hell no!” Kyungwon looked offended. “Just, Kyla doesn’t know, and it wouldn’t hurt to have an excuse for where I randomly get money.”

“True. That fish vendor is getting awful suspicious.”

Kyungwon hummed. “I’m going to ask my boss to quell her concerns at some point, if he doesn’t do it naturally. They’re weirdly close.”

* * *

The next day Kyla, Minkyung, and Kyungwon went in to see the marketplace. Kyungwon had a bit of leftover cash, and decided that it would be ridiculous to save it and that they should go buy some good food and eat it.

“Kyla?” someone called out, and the three froze, Kyla turning with a grin on her face and Kyungwon and Minkyung turned while giving each other terrified looks. The voice sounded too familiar.

“Hey,” Kyla greeted back. “What happened to your head?” Minkyung hadn’t gotten a particularly good look at their faces that night, but she had a pretty good feeling these were the two guards who had almost caught them. They were out of their uniforms, on a day off from work, each holding an apple.

“Had a nasty run in with some weirdo in a mask. We found out there was a break-in the next day, but nothing was stolen it seems. She bashed my head with her head and mask. Hope it did as much damage to her as it did to me,” one of the girls said, an angry look on her face. She had a bandage wrapped over her head, around the place where Minkyung would have hit her.

“Yaebin lost it. She thought she was going insane, but it’s just some minor bruising. She’s a big baby,” the other one said, grinning wickedly at her companion, who pouted.

“Oh,” Kyla turned to Kyungwon and Minkyung. “This is Yaebin and Eunwoo. They used to play in the neighborhood before they joined the army. This is my sister Kyungwon and her friend Minkyung.”

“Nice to meet you,” Minkyung said, while Kyungwon just gave an awkward smile.

“How was Christmas, they never let us go home during the holiday. It’s so lame,” Eunwoo launched off into a conversation with Kyla and Kyungwon, but Minkyung was distracted by Yaebin, who was fixing her with a hard stare.

Minkyung had spoken that night, she now realized, and greeting was maybe not her best idea. She wanted to bolt at the moment, but doing so would only implicate herself further. Instead of avoiding Yaebin’s gaze, she met it, giving her a curious look that she hoped looked convincing.

After a moment Yaebin shrugged, turning back to the conversation. Minkyung adjusted the knitted cap she was wearing, thankful that it covered an identical bruise to Yaebin’s along her hairline.

“We have to get back soon,” Yaebin said, tugging Eunwoo’s sleeve.

“Ugh. We got in trouble for what happened the night before Christmas, so we don’t get a full day off today. Bullshit, I say!” Kyla laughed, and Minkyung tried to muster up a smile to match everyone else’s.

They said goodbye and the two were off, leaving the three to finish up their shopping and return home.

“If i said that I was going to buy only shrimp with this money, would you kill me?”

Minkyung glared at Kyungwon. “I would rip your head off. Nobody can eat that much shrimp. We can’t even store that much shrimp.”

“Just put it outside on the snow I’m sure,” Kyungwon said, shrugging. “It’d probably be fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> note: so chances are both minky and yaebin would have concussions from this but that's neither here nor there.


End file.
